Oct 17, 2017
NPR – Samantha Raphelson
“Your child doesn’t want to go to school. It’s a daily struggle that many parents are familiar with. But what if your child refuses to go to school? Mental health professionals and educators say what used to be considered run-of-the-mill truancy could actually be something else. Some cases of chronic absenteeism are now being called “school refusal,” which is triggered by anxiety, depression, family crises and other traumatic events. It can lead to weeks or even months of missed school days.”(more)
Oct 17, 2017
KQED News Mind/Shift – Terry Gross
“The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average of eight hours of sleep per night for adults, but sleep scientist Matthew Walker says that too many people are falling short of the mark. “Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain,” Walker says. “Many people walk through their lives in an underslept state, not realizing it.” Walker is the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He points out that lack of sleep — defined as six hours or fewer — can have serious consequences. Sleep deficiency is associated with problems in concentration, memory and the immune system, and may even shorten life span.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
KQED News Mind/Shift – Katrina Schwartz
“When Emerie Lukas was hired to develop and teach a STEM Foundations course to middle school students at the Dayton Regional STEM School, she was starting from scratch. The stated goal of the course was to prepare students for more rigorous work in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes in high school, but Lukas knew that meant far more than academic preparation. She needed to teach her students how to give and take effective feedback, how to solve conflicts, how to organize themselves, and how to present, discuss and communicate their ideas. She knew without these qualities students wouldn’t be prepared for a rigorous STEM environment.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
Stuff – ANUJA NADKARNI
“Learning the language is the first step for businesses that want to become China-ready, businesswoman Jo Coughlan says. China is New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner, its biggest market for export goods, a fast-growing service market and an increasingly major source of foreign investment. Coughlan heads New Zealand Chinese Language Week. During the week, it will run a social media campaign teaching five Mandarin phrases through social videos. Coughlan is also director of agribusiness Silvereye and said, as a business owner, she recognised the opportunities, challenges and complexities of the Chinese market.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
Edutopia – Anxo Otero
“The advent of interactive play platforms such as Quizlet Live, Quizizz, Kahoot!, and Quizalize has brought to world language classrooms an engaging way to review vocabulary. Students enjoy the low-stakes competition, the fast pace of the games, and the interaction with their peers. For teachers, these platforms provide a seamless way to get all students excited and engaged. However, they were not developed with the world language classroom exclusively in mind and therefore present a few challenges. The act of breaking into small groups and the simplicity of the games may remove students from the mindset of using the target language meaningfully.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
Edutopia – Alessandra King
“It’s well known that children learn by playing and that playing has numerous cognitive benefits, including flexibility, focus, self-control, organization, and planning. Playing games may also help children develop logical, executive, and social skills. Some studies show that such benefits can come from video games, as these can strengthen a range of cognitive abilities, including visual and spatial discrimination, memory, reasoning, logic, and problem solving.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
Edutopia – Ann O’Brien
“Several recent polls have asked adult members of families their thoughts about education. Media coverage of such polls focuses mostly on findings around school choice. But when we dig deeper, we see an array of information that can be helpful to all school leaders and educators.”(more)
Oct 16, 2017
The Guardian – Tristram Hooley
“How are schools doing on careers advice for their students? This is the question we posed for the new State of the Nation 2017 report, published by social enterprise The Careers & Enterprise Company. Our findings are based on 600 schools completing a self-assessment tool, giving us insights into their delivery of careers provision.”(more)
Oct 15, 2017
BT – Staff Writer
“A number of recent studies have shown that learning a foreign language is a great way to keep the brain active and can even help ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s. Being able to speak another language is not only a useful life skill, it also has great benefits for the brain to boot.”(more)
Oct 15, 2017
Education Dive – Linda Jacobson
“Last month, the Partnership for 21st Century Learning released materials describing what the skills needed “to succeed in work, life and citizenship” look like in a classroom of young children. They added that core academic areas should include 21st century themes, such as civic literacy and global awareness.”(more)
